The Internet has almost become one of the basic needs for us humans. It is a part of our daily life, both professional and personal. There is a huge flow of people using the internet from all over the world. And as the amount of internet users increase it becomes easier for a hacker to catch some fish in their net. And the most important thing that a hacker can steal from you is your identity.
Protecting your online identity has nowadays become a herculean task, because it is nearly impossible to avoid contact with a fake or phishing site while using the internet. And day by day the number of such sites are increasing to unimaginable amounts. Identity theft has become more popular and easier with the growth of social media sites.
Social media sites are like opening up your personal information for the world to see. But what you cannot always know is who or what type of people in the world are in possession of your personal information. Also the increase in usage of internet through mobile phone increases the crime rates as it is easier for a hacker to break into your mobile phone.
Top 10 Proven Tips to Secure Your Online Identity
All of these together have made protecting your identity extremely difficult. But we are here to help you as we have the 10 best proven tips to secure your online identity. Read the following tips and prevent your identity from being stolen.
Try to avoid publishing important personal information online
Important personal details such as phone number, address, details about family and children etc. This can lead hackers to easily take these information from your social media page. Also this means that you should avoid anything even from a friend request from stranger to avoiding liking pages or posts that you have not even heard or do not know.
Utilize the privacy settings on your social media
o In Facebook, change the setting so that your posts are only visible to your friends. This can prevent your posts from being shown on unknown peoples feeds.
Use different passwords
Use passwords that are not easy to guess, try to avoid your date of birth or mobile numbers in passwords. Make sure that your password is strong and unique so that your password is strong as well as easy to remember it for you. For you help there are sites like Norton password generator over the web. You can use them to generate strong & unique password.
Make sure that the privacy setting in your phone is activated
There are many options for your phone to keep it secure from hackers. Mobile phones are now a very common item used by almost everyone, therefore it is also one of the top things that are in this list because mobile phones get hacked very often. So if your phone has a way to let you remotely delete all your contents , make sure it is activated.
Always keep an eye on your mail and know to avoid unknown ones
Emails promising you won a lottery and asking for your personal details is the best way in which someone can steal your online identity without any much effort. So always be careful while opening a mail. Especially from an unknown person.
Be careful about the URL
Always make sure that the URL starts with https://. In https the s stand for security. And https websites are secure web pages that can protect you from a online threats such as viruses and phishing.
Always check your bank statements
So that you can always check how your money is used is used and also cross check your boys. Comparing your bank statement to your original transaction bill can let you know if there is any abnormal deductions in your account.
Use good Web Browsers
Anything coming through mail cannot be trusted always. As it is one of the most popular method for phishing and identity theft so always be careful while checking the mail. Moreover always be careful while using the internet, you never know where there is danger so always be careful when browsing the web. And try to use a good web browser with ad blockers and such blacklisting tools that can prevent viruses and hackers.
Use Anti – Virus software
Anti virus or anti malware software is one of the best methods against online identity theft and would help you know if there is a virus or hacker on your computer. These can scan and check for virus on your computer, online and downloaded files, making sure that there are no viruses and there will not be anymore.
Ignore and avoid PopUps or Advertisements
These Pop Ups and advertisements are one of the most common ways in which your computer can get affected with a virus from the internet. These click baits lure you into clicking on it and after that your computer will get affected with virus or your identity will be stolen. These can redirect you to completely different website than you expected.
These are the 10 proven tips to secure your online identity. Read these steps carefully and make sure that you follow these from now on so as to avoid someone hacking your identity and making your bank account and social media a menace. These can surely help you to prevent your identity from being stolen today.
Comments